Leicester Marriott Hotel

This is my review of the Leicester Marriott Hotel for families.

We booked the Leicester Marriott hotel as we were looking for a hotel for a family break that was close to the National Space Centre, King Richard III Visitor Centre and Twycross Zoo.
The Leicester Marriott hotel was easy to find and is situated just minutes from the M1 which makes it great base for exploring the surrounding area.  It is approximately 15 minutes drive away from city centre of Leicester.

On first entering to the hotel it has a grand welcoming feel.  There were a lot of businessmen that were using the hotel but it very much had a family feel and catered for children brilliantly.

Within the large atrium lobby there was a bar area serving Starbucks coffee and restaurant area on the left, a seating / bar area in the middle and the reception is to the right.
All staff were very friendly and kind and showed professionalism and  made a fuss of us from the start of our stay until the end of our stay.

The children were given goodie bags upon arrival and pretend manager badges to wear throughout their stay which the girls thought was amazing.

They were told that if they went to the bar, restaurant and Health Club they would be rewarded with goodies.  The children enjoyed this little treasure hunt and were given, packets of sweets and drinks.

We had an executive room on the 4^th floor.

Within our room we were greeted with a welcome note and the extra touches that make a stay special, robes and slippers, extra rolled up towels placed nicely on the bed with hot chocolate.

A nice touch were the jars of complementary jelly beans and bottles of water laid out for the children.

We also appreciated a welcoming fruit plate which the children enjoyed  and a Nespresso machine with a full complement of drink options which was a nice touch.

The room was clean, a good size and of a high quality with two amazingly comfortable beds.

There was a desk for work if you wanted to catch up with things when you were away with adequate power points.

The hotel provides free standard wifi for all guests which I would expect from an upmarket hotel chain such as Marriott.

Our room also had tea and coffee making facilities, biscuits a fridge, safe and an iPod docking/charging station

Within the room were a complimentary selection of magazines.

The bathroom was small but nicely appointed with good quality toiletries the only part I didn’t like was the shower curtain which had a slight unpleasant smell, which I feel are dated these days in modern hotels.

We had access to the executive lounge and children are welcomed.

The lounge served a selection of cold and hot drinks, sweets, biscuits, mints, peanuts and fruit. There was hot food, bottles of beer and wine served in the evening until 7.30pm.

We enjoyed the use of the executive lounge the only criticism I have here is food is currently kept warm by warming lamps and looked dry and unappetising.

This is a small criticism and can be hard to get right depending on how many people are using the lounge, although the level of service from staff members within the lounge was exceptional.

My children enjoyed eating crackers and cheese with a cranberry juice and was a lovely way to relax in the evening in a peaceful setting.

A lovely member of staff named Inga made the girls complimentary hot chocolates and gave them a little tub of shortbread each during the evening.  The little touches like these were much appreciated and the children were excited and pleased.

The swimming pool area was a nice way to unwind after a busy day at Twycross Zoo, it met the expectations from a high standard hotel with pool towels, family changing and locker room (£1 returnable), sauna and steam room.

There were swimming lessons on at the time but the rest of the pool was quiet and children could enjoy.  The pool area was clean and there is a seating area for spectators.  The only criticism was that the family changing room we used could be updated.

We did not eat in the restaurant, there was a limited children’s menu but we decided to go out of the hotel for our evening meal as there are plenty of restaurant options, shopping and even a cinema on your doorstep.

The breakfast in the morning was available until 11am and was delicious with lots of options from hot cooked breakfast to small pastries, fruit and cereals.

The breakfast is served as buffet style but can also be cooked fresh to your requirements.

Once more the level of service received during breakfast was exceptional and this high level of customer service is a credit to the hotel management because it really does make a difference during your stay.

They even provided the girls with paper bags so they could takeaway their favourite muffins after breakfast.  All staff we have spoken too presented themselves in a professional way and really got the level of service right.

It was quiet and no noise from the road could be heard from the hotel room.

Overall we very much enjoyed our stay at the Leicester Marriott and have had a good experience, and would be a hotel that we would definitely recommend for families if you are staying in the Leicester area.